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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America , ?& r U4 ]- T; ]& W
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 5 G* u$ _9 B, C: ~0 l( W; y$ B3 c
the merits. ! u: |" n4 \5 j! F& U
By David Boies
5 }0 z/ r& h. [/ X! `March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET , y" v* O% R8 R
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
6 e& m* \# c* a+ Y5 }Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
w0 Q; d/ _# m5 h+ x$ gEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ! O0 T2 L, P, |
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
& L6 S& g, l; `6 c O* A1 t' ~left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ' Q( q# Z. O6 B
address. & ^* x% e8 w3 C8 }/ o
/ ]3 B t5 u, Y' @6 dLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt ) I& {, t9 H: m: b; }3 g* U$ z
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its " b. t9 u3 P/ I" J- a) O2 g3 o4 k
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
4 T z! ~# ^" ^( i1 X" cthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
1 E' K @' ~+ O4 }* FTrump began the current military campaign. ; a, U' i# i' x' @$ c2 k5 i `3 u& A
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous * T8 q7 j: E3 j6 A
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 0 }! O0 F& c) a. D/ W4 d# W- M
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York . e U; f' g7 L
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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; B1 i3 K7 \, v3 I: z, sNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste / E7 x E7 ^4 R$ W2 ~( X
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action # y- y! F7 e1 _- B6 M5 G) O, u
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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( G8 U, K- c& \4 _, d2 yObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
* u# u1 x# B9 W' e“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
6 S7 ^5 O8 b# @- e5 _( l& @and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
% [. E e% d- m. _4 v6 i! X( Umuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been1 q, s& e* y T; e) n
to permit them to increase further. 7 B2 I' K2 g' @% _& J# E
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ! r9 J9 ^ S: p* K) A% w
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic g/ f# T, ~; `
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
& Z! w ^+ w6 J: v) l' k& I( [% I1 n, ?- [understand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
7 m) B% K A& v" Z y2 pRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
& W0 q# ^( d/ C* `2 }fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
8 K: W, E& `: o' Wthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
+ B& J" l; R, K) }+ ihundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
/ ?; D% _* t& q" cdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, , _" P: C( m8 [" j
to devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel - N, J1 V. K1 i5 ^6 }. u
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
7 L% h8 E& X5 V' p' urooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
1 {6 N1 g" S+ {, }at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 7 j0 F% h% q3 S# L: X8 {) d
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
' l8 V1 Z# F0 v' N8 S# [President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
; T: I6 d! l! e& t$ O, [history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. * }# z1 W6 X8 v: u* O
$ ^, c. o, a7 U7 ?- X* w$ _More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 6 ~2 G+ v Z s/ q) M1 }
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
f. q2 s; M2 j! v7 WRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
/ J$ E+ B- i$ P' EAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in - W/ ]0 ?$ k7 j3 x
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ( \! v& Y- l2 T& Z$ ` ^; i
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 5 _; @8 y* A, z1 g0 L, A/ W
3 Q# |0 U7 Q* e8 \" E& ~. DMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
) e4 u: I. S& S+ }6 ]: V7 kalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the / b5 |% u# h$ b
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—7 F7 { J- I6 f
even if it means a loss for America. $ y+ j* X% W4 M }% O u ?& R
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
0 g9 D* w, c; T7 H& y! ]/ swas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
3 q. N: N, Q0 yelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman : J9 J6 w9 r( y3 C! p7 I# u' P
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
! }6 k) d0 I$ q8 L( r# epopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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6 l- P( `# I) _' o& F5 ATruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
2 c; e% K; J# Dcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the ! z) w3 @6 \& V3 J3 E) `
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
" _* w$ K5 g7 l# `% L6 d6 t% ~Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
3 U. W6 C- M `extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those " G3 ~9 ]% r) Y% b6 s
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
3 f: t6 z$ [' m0 E9 csupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we / T( S3 `. U. L5 K2 v( L
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 1 B" Z3 V) F. F/ ~, O, X
+ A# H2 U" T3 \8 _! x% h/ R6 hIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
2 H1 l; h. [$ A: b% B) ]mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we $ C& \2 X; {4 r9 t2 I/ t' L
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse & g1 T$ T3 h4 n6 t. F0 k3 n [
for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We 0 S+ J! K3 k) ]( T
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 4 i$ T$ l8 j& ~! m% Y
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
3 J: P ^" F3 o& f; T' ^- imaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
( v n( i3 W% o" O1 kreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits # I$ N* { v( F1 u5 e% Q$ W
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
' }9 ]! b! m8 t: P/ B* R: b( D$ Dthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
' K' C0 g6 p" N* M! wadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
; Q" [/ w1 m) Rwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
0 C9 T5 g( k* b7 Vbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they " L/ }1 |& `2 C3 H% B. p' n
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the 6 V5 U. I6 v" z0 b o# J, T. X9 v
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ! F+ z, b& i) R3 {
4 T8 K/ \ o& AMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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